Gifford, Marder Out 'A While'; Melifonwu Should Be OK For Tulane

UConn likely will be without two players but will probably get a boost from one coming back when the Huskies play at Tulane Oct. 11. UConn is off this week before taking on the Green Wave at 8 p.m. (ESPNews).

Coach Bob Diaco said starting right tackle Dalton Gifford and reserve safety Ellis Marder will be a out "a while" with lower leg injuries but offered no specifics during a conference call Monday.

Sophomore safety Obi Melifonwu, who sustained an upper body injury in the second quarter of a 36-10 loss to Temple at Rentschler Field Saturday, is expected to be available for the Tulane game.

"Obi, when he was in [against Temple], was definitely playing his best game," Diaco said. "Looking forward to getting him back and getting him some action."

When he was out, particularly in the second half, the Owls and quarterback P.J. Walker had much more success, including a 42-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Fitzpatrick in the third quarter that boosted the Temple lead to 14-3.

Temple wasn't 26 points better than UConn. This was a 7-3 game at the break. No, the Huskies gifted the Owls 16 points, something they can't afford to do, because they're not good enough to overcome the...

UConn also was bothered by its usual lapses. Temple scored on a 93-yard interception return, an 11-yard return off a fumble recovery and a safety.

"We surrendered 16 uncontested points, and we're not going to beat, you know, St. Mary's High School doing that," Diaco said on an AAC coaches conference call shortly before getting on the call with state media.

Diaco said his team has much work to do.

"The team's improving in so many massive areas, I can't even tell you," Diaco said. "And yet [we] continue to get plagued by game-changing plays and/or bad-luck moments. It's created a losing [atmosphere], which you run the risk of it altering a culture that you've built and are working toward. So that's where we're at.

"We're managing and trying to stomp out any kind of deceleration with attitude and culture, which becomes harder and harder as you continue to lose. We're a young program, and we've got a massive amount of work to do."

The offensive line has its share of issues. Now it's about to add another younger player to the mix. With Gifford out, freshman Tommy Hopkins will move in at right tackle behind Andreas Knappe.

"He's just a freshman trying to get better," Diaco said. "We had him playing inside to try to protect him a little bit. I believe he's a better inside player than outside, but he's going to have to make us whole out there, and he'll do a fine job. Tough guy, hard worker, wants to be good."

Boyle In Plans

Diaco said he would like to continue playing sophomore quarterback Tim Boyle. He saw limited action against the Owls, throwing four passes and completing one for seven yards.

"When he's feeling well enough ... we'd like to play Tim in every game," Diaco said. "There's no reason why we wouldn't do that. Tim is the quarterback of the future, and why wouldn't we take every opportunity to get him action, to get better, so we definitely want to. I'm not sure we can. It's still all going to be based on how he feels, but moving forward we'd like to get him in each game."

Boyle has been bothered by a lower leg problem.

What about Deshon Foxx, the senior wide receiver who played some quarterback in high school and completed his only pass against Temple?

"We just keep getting [him] ready. He's a great teammate. He's an explosive player, and if the situation calls for it he'll be ready to execute his plays," Diaco said. ... Special teams standout Junior Lee, who recovered a fumble in the end zone for an apparent UConn touchdown that was wiped away by a penalty to start the third, saw action in the defensive backfield in Melifonwu's absence. ... Diaco was asked how senior center Alex Mateas, who's had his share of penalties, was doing in his role as a captain and leader. "He's trying," Diaco said. "He's doing OK. Some of these guys just don't even know what to say. There's no well or resource for them to fall back on, to know exactly what to say. We're not asking him to do much. The leadership needs to come from the coaches right now, and I'd be concerned if it were coming from other areas that it would not exactly be like we would want it to be. Alex just needs to pay attention to what he's being coached to do — and do that. He doesn't need to be anything more than that."